Elbphilharmonie

Herzog and de Meuron placed a glass structure with a wave-shaped roof on top of the Kaispeicher A, a 1963 warehouse, retaining the brick base and building the new hall above it. Construction began in 2007 with an opening planned for 2010 at around two hundred and forty million euros; it opened in January 2017 at a public cost of around eight hundred and sixty-six million, and the delays and overruns were a long-running public argument. The main hall seats over two thousand around a central stage, with acoustic panels milled in ten thousand unique shapes. A public plaza at thirty-seven metres, between old and new, is free to enter with a timed ticket.

History

The project grew from a private initiative by the architect and developer Alexander Gérard and his wife, the art historian Jana Marko, who commissioned the first design. In 2007 construction was due to finish by 2010 at an estimated €241 million; by November 2008, after the contract was amended, the estimate had risen to €450 million, and in August 2012 to over €500 million, including a strengthened roof. Building work officially ended on 31 October 2016 at a cost of €866 million (Wikipedia, Elbphilharmonie).

What's there

• The glass wave - a new structure set on a 1963 brick warehouse.
• The public plaza - a free viewing level at thirty-seven metres.
• The main hall - a vineyard-plan auditorium with milled acoustic panels.
• The curved escalator - a long escalator through the old warehouse.

When to go

Year-round; the plaza requires a free timed ticket, released online and at the door, and fills on weekends. Concert tickets sell out far in advance.

What to expect

Plaza tickets are timed and run out on busy days. Hall access without a concert requires a paid tour. Concert tickets are hard to get.

Nearby

The Speicherstadt lies east; the harbour is below.

Key facts